2008 Cadets January Camp #1 Report

The Cadets nailed down their 2008 opener last weekend as the brass and percussion sections closed out the corps’ second camp with a jaw-dropping run-through of An American Elegy and Nitro. The Cadets were also re-introduced to former Program Coordinator Marc Sylvester who returns to the corps as an active consultant.

The corps’ senior staff was encouraged with the progress of the more than 130 musicians who rattled the rafters of the Penns Grove High School auditorium in Carneys Point, N.J. The camp was the first for the combined sections to play through the opener to “In Pursuit of Happiness,” the working title for the Cadets 2008 program.

“All of Nitro came together in 25-minutes,” said Cadets Director George Hopkins. “That is 1:30 of just killer music and one would think there would be ensemble issues, and points to be reviewed. In reality, the students pretty much locked it down to acceptable levels for January in minutes. I was stunned and in awe.”

Hopkins praised members and staff for their commitment to getting the job done and encouraged the team to keep up the momentum as the corps returns to rehearse in just two weeks.

“What great teaching, and what great commitment from the gang to come to rehearsal so very, very prepared…the percussion and brass are just plain GOOD!”

More than five minutes of Frank Ticheli’s music has been taught to the Cadets hornline, including An American Elegy, Nitro and nearly all of Vesuvius. The show will finish with Apollo Unleashed, with all arrangements by Brass Arranger Jay Bocook to be taught by the final camp in March, Hopkins said.

Pleased with the outcome of the weekend rehearsals, Brass Caption Supervisor Gino Cipriani said the Cadets seem to up the ante every year with the difficulty in repertoire and arrangements for the hornline. The corps will this season utilize the additional member allotments passed by DCI last year, adding brass in every section, he said. Division I corps membership was raised from 135 to 150 beginning in 2008.

While still tweaking the right mix of instrumentation, the Cadets are tentatively planning on marching 24 trumpets, 14 mellophones, 12 tubas, eight baritones and for the first time, adding 14 euphoniums on the field. The Cadets marched 66 horns in 2007.

“The euphonium gives the hornline more depth in the sound,” Cipriani said.

The staff also welcomed back Marc Sylvester, who left in 2007 to work with the Cadets former sister corps,’ the Crossmen. Sylvester rejoins the Cadets as a program consultant working with the Creative Team on “In Pursuit of Happiness.”

“We are thrilled to add Marc to the mix on a full-time basis again. He is a legend to the activity…to the Cadets. Not only does he bring so many ideas to the table, but we’ve missed his insightful and artistic approach to programming,” Hopkins said.

The Cadets return for their third camp on Jan. 18-20 at Penns Grove High School. The corps tour schedule was recently released with their debut DCI competition scheduled for June 21 in Toledo, Ohio.

Stay close to www.yea.org/cadets for details on the Cadets Come Home Exhibition on June 15 in Allentown, Pa.

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